Most people do not realize how much of a difference your front door can actually make for your home’s energy usage. The U.S. Department of Energy has estimated that gaps from the front door can cost up to 20 percent of the heat in an average house.
Find out the major factors that may lead to front door failure – and how to prevent it.
Front Doors Can Leak Air.
Gaps around front doors are also common, and they also let in air and sometimes water, which leads to energy wastage. For instance, a crack that is only 1/8 inch wide under an exterior door is as effective as a lowly two-and-a-half-inch hole in the wall for letting in cold air.
But how do you seal a leaking door and stop the drafts from getting in? Specific features such as weatherstripping that surround your front door ensure that no air escapes or gets in.
Nevertheless, what is important to understand is that weatherstripping does wear off with time. At other times the problem can be solved by replacing the weatherstripping. However, if the leakage is severe, you may probably have to change the whole door system altogether.
Interior Entry Door Insulation Is Important.
The way your front door is made is even more important when it comes to the energy efficiency of your house. The most insubstantial doors in terms of energy efficiency are the wooden door front with the wooden facing. Wooden structure is not insulated and hence the material is capable of trapping heat.
Compared to wooden doors, steel doors are a little less efficient in terms of energy. But they are metal, and they transfer heat. Anytime you touch a door made of steel, you can feel the outside cold or heat.
Fiberglass is the most energy-efficient material which can be used while constructing exterior doors. Fiberglass doors are heatless, and they can also be made with polyurethane to enable them to retain very little heat in the cooler months. They also help to prevent scorching heat during the summer season.
The Front Door Glass Enables the Transfer of Temperature.
Is your front door equipped with glass, side lights or a transom? Whether it is a single piece of glass or a whole glazing system, any glass on or close to your front door can affect the energy performance of your home if it is the right type of glass.
Standard float glass is not energy efficient as some heat can transfer through the single pane. Low-emission or Low-E glass windows, whether they are double or triple glassed, are commonly combined with exterior doors that are recognized as energy efficient. These coatings also assist in minimizing heat transmission and protect against hazardous ultraviolet light.
If your front door has a serious leak, is not made from an energy-efficient material or has single-pane glass, then you should replace the entire door system.
How do I fix a draft door?
A drafty door is unpleasant. You can expel fresh air in the house and at the same time get bad air from outside into the house. Use these tips to correct drafty door:
- Change your glass panes from single pane to double pane glass. Indeed, we have described why this is important, but it warrants some elaboration. Single-pane glasses’ insulation capabilities are not as impressive as thicker panes’ either, for that matter.
- Purchase a door snake. A door snake is a tube of fabric which you put beneath your front door to ensure that neither fresh air gets into your home nor escapes from it. The disadvantage of this is that the draft stopper will shift every time you open and close the door, so you will need to adjust it each time.
- Install weatherstripping. This means getting the weatherstripping at all the sides of your door (and windows, too, If you are doing it.), and it does work. But getting it done is not always such an easy thing since some preciseness is normally expected, and for it to be most effective, one needs to have flat surfaces around the door.
How Do I Stop Water from Getting Through the Bottom of The Door?
This is the same as how you keep drafts at bay. First of all, you should consider having the weatherstripping and a door sweep. More often, it is more convenient to choose a new front door to work with the solutions that are effective in the long run.
